1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector box, and in particular to an electrical connector box constructed to prevent inaccurate insertion of a circuit shorting terminal into the terminal slots of a relay receptacle formed on the external surface of a case.
2. Description of Related Art
The internal circuits of an automotive electrical connector box are conventionally constructed in various configurations for use with various types of automobiles and various grades of automobiles within a model line. For example, when the internal circuit is formed from a bus bar that has been blank-formed to a required shape, the manufacture of each internal circuit requires that a different bus bar pattern be fabricated for use with each type of internal circuit.
However, fabricating a bus bar pattern for each of the internal circuits creates problems such as the need to configure insertion elements for each bus bar pattern, and an increase in cost, in certain cases, due to the need to fabricate various dies. Also, an increase in the number of bus bar configurations can become difficult to manage.
Japanese Utility Model Patent No. H1-107882 describes a circuit shorting structure using a relay receptacle. As shown by the two circuits in FIGS. 9A and 9B, tabs 1 through 4 extend toward the bus bar of the internal circuit and connect to relay terminals. This structure is applicable when the electrical connector box does not require that tabs 1 and 2 be shorted. However, for electrical connector boxes that require tabs 1 and 2 to be shorted, shorting terminal 5 to be connected to the wrong bus bar tabs 3 and 4, thus leading to the unintended shorting of bus bars.